Tools for crimping a variety of materials for a number of applications include devices for pipe clamping or crimping such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,372 to Batcheller and U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,442 to Burli.
Devices are known for the crimping and connecting of wire joints, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,351 to Filia; U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,373 to Blagojevich; U.S. Pat. No. 2,994,238 to Matthysse; U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,751 to Filia, U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,524 to Filia, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,432 to Osborn et al which discuss various mechanisms for translating a handle closing into a clamping force.
These devices may be bulky and difficult to use in a confined area or with a single hand operation. These tools may have extended handles utilized to achieve the necessary clamping or crimping force. Users of these devices may encounter difficulties due to the heavy, bulky, and often clumsy nature of these devices which may be inefficient, and difficult or impossible to use in specific applications, such as confined areas.
One particular operation for which it may be useful to have a convenient, lightweight and easy to use crimping tool is in the crimping of copper bands onto plastic pipe. In the crimping operation, the plastic pipe slides onto copper or brass fittings (in some applications plastic fittings are used), and is crimped in place using copper rings, which squeeze the pipe around each fitting connection. Often, pipe joints are located in constricted access locations. It may be difficult to align a long-handled tool on the crimp ring. A misaligned operation can result in a misalignment of the ring and/or movement of the ring from the proper position. Misalignment or improper location can result in a leaky fitting. Some devices reduce the handle length and handle movement required to open the crimping jaws of a tool and to crimp a fitting; however, these devices typically require both hands of a user to operate the tool. A two-handed tool may be difficult to use in constricted locations.
Some conventional crimping tools include bolt cutters having jaws modified for crimping instead of cutting. These devices generally have elongated handles which are opened up to a span of over two feet from tip to tip to allow the jaw to fit over a crimp ring. These devices typically require two-handed operation with hands far apart and elbows out, something that is difficult to do when working on ladders or in tight spaces. These tools also can require significant operator applied force in spite of the long handle mechanical advantage. These force and orientation requirements can cause difficulty in keeping a tool properly aligned on a crimp ring. Also the crimping jaws themselves must be opened to a wide span, which can prove difficult in constrained areas.
In addition, some compact, essentially one-handed crimping tools may require a relatively high hand force to perform crimping in a single hand stroke. Such tools provide advantages over the larger, two-handed tools described above but do not provide comfortable crimping ability for all operators. To improve mechanical advantage in a hand tool for which crimping jaws must compress a work piece of a specific size, while the movement of handles for closing the jaws is restricted to the distance of an open hand grip, the reduction of hand force may necessitate the compression to be completed in more than one hand stroke. It is desirable that such multiple hand strokes be conducted with a minimum of additional manipulation of the tool. It is also desirable that the jaws remain securely engaged with the work piece throughout the progression of such multiple hand strokes and compressions.